12.31.07

In their continued effort to kill innocent Israeli civilians, and despite their lies about wanting peace, the Pali terrorist were caught trying to smuggle explosive chemicals into the West Bank. The 6.5 tons of potassium nitrate, a key ingredient used in manufacturing explosives, was disguised as sugar. The bags were even marked with “exported from the E.U.”
I really don’t think the world is ever going to wake to the fact that the Pali’s are never going to allow peace.

The IDF and Shin Bet uncovered 6.5 tons of potassium nitrate hidden in sacks that were disguised as aid from the European Union, the army announced on Saturday.

Security forces discovered the stash in the cargo of a Palestinian truck at a West Bank checkpoint earlier in December. According to the IDF, the material, hidden in sugar sacks, was planned to be used by terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

“Potassium Nitrate is a banned substance in the Gaza Strip and the Judea and Samaria region due to its use by terrorists for the manufacturing of explosives and Kassam rockets,” the IDF spokesperson wrote in a statement.

“This is another example of how the terror organizations exploit the humanitarian aid that is delivered to the Palestinian population in the Gaza Strip with Israel’s approval,” the statement read.

12.30.07

As Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign sputters and stumbles, her husband’s rhetoric on her behalf is more over-the-top than ever.

Last week, on a campaign stop in New Hampshire, Bill Clinton made the statement that his wife is “a world-class genius in making positive changes in other people’s lives.”

“The reason she ought to be president, over and above her vision and her plans is that she has proved in every position she has ever had in life, whether it was in elected office or not, that she is a world-class genius in making positive changes in other people’s lives.”

He said it.

Read it for yourself right here, if you don’t believe me.

What amazes me about this comment is the way Bill Clinton qualifies his wife’s genius. She’s not a genius at changing her own life. She’s a genius at changing other people’s lives.

This is the key to understanding Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton and every other politician who thinks like them.

They may be the most corrupt, unhappy, unsatisfied, miserable, power-mad, ambitious, immoral people in public life. But they don’t seek to change themselves. Their genius is in manipulating others, forcing them to change their ways.

Neither of these people have ever lifted a finger to help someone around them who was in trouble, in crisis. They wouldn’t give a dime of their own money to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, nurse the sick. What they will do is use those perpetual needs in any society as means to empower themselves.

They will gladly spend your money – the more the better – and claim credit for being compassionate.

What I would like to ask Bill Clinton, if I had the chance, would be for him to name just one person whose life has been changed for the better by his wife’s genius.

Bhutto’s son and husband are already in grave danger. Stepping into her shoes is like asking to be killed. When you are dealing with Palestinian terrorists, preaching democracy is like a death wish.

Benazir Bhutto’s 19-year old son was chosen Sunday to succeed her as chairman of her opposition party, while her husband will serve as co- chairman, extending Pakistan’s most famous political dynasty to another generation.
The party also decided to contest upcoming elections, apparently ending the threat of a wholesale boycott by Pakistan’s political opposition as the key U.S.-ally struggles to transition to full democracy after years of military rule.

The decision was made at a closed meeting of the Pakistan Peoples Party central executive committee, three days after the two-time prime minister was assassinated in a suicide attack.

It catapults Bilawal Zardari, an Oxford University student with no political experience, to the center of Pakistan’s tumultuous public life.

“The party’s long struggle for democracy will continue with renewed vigor,” he said at a news conference. “My mother always said democracy is the best revenge.”

Supporters chanted “Benazir, princess of heaven” and “Bilawal, move ahead. We are with you.”

A prominent pro-family leader is urging fellow conservatives to withdraw their support for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney over his recent expressed support for a “sexual orientation” non-discrimination law.
Romney during an interview with NBC’s “Meet the Press” said he supports the contentious Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which adds “sexual orientation” to a list of federally protected classes that prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex or national origin.

The bill upsets conservative leaders because it grants special protection to employees based on their “actual or perceived” sexual orientation. Moreover, it would force Christian organizations that oppose homosexuality to hire gay employees.

“Mitt Romney’s Christmas present to the homosexual lobby disqualifies him as a pro-family leader,” said Peter LaBarbera, longtime pro-family advocate and founder of the Republicans For Family Values website.

“Laws that treat homosexuality as a civil rights are being used to promote homosexual ‘marriage,’ same-sex adoption and pro-homosexuality indoctrination of schoolchildren,” he said. “These same laws pose a direct threat to the freedom of faith-minded citizens and organizations to act on their religious belief that homosexual behavior is wrong.”

The former Massachusetts governor responded on “Meet the Press” that ENDA “makes sense” at the state level. But LaBarbera warns that if Romney “openly” promotes homosexual agenda at the state level then he cannot be trusted at the federal level.

He pointed out that the state’s “sexual orientation” nondiscrimination law laid the groundwork for Massachusetts legalizing gay “marriage” – the first in the country to do so.

Moreover, the ENDA-like law forced Boston’s Catholic Charities to shut down its century-old adoption agency because it refused to place children in gay households against Catholic teaching.

“Given Romney’s extensive pro-homosexual record and willingness now to depart from principle on this crucial issue, should we trust a ‘President Romney’ not to reverse course again on federal pro-homosexual laws such as ‘Hate Crimes’ and ENDA?” LaBarbera posed.

In addition to the homosexuality agenda, pro-family leaders have also had reservations on Romney’s commitment to the abortion issue, which he only recently said he was against.

Well-known conservative leaders who have endorsed Romney include Paul Weyrich of the Free Congress Foundation; Lou Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition; Jay Sekulow of the American Center for Law & Justice; and Mark DeMoss of the PR agency DeMoss Pond.

“Now some pro-family leaders – who have raised millions of dollars over the years opposing ‘gay’ activism – will need to explain how they can go on supporting an openly pro-homosexual-agenda candidate,” LaBarbera said.

The federal ENDA bill is opposed by Christian heavyweights such as Tony Perkins of Family Research Council, Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family, Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr. of High Impact Leadership Coalition, Alan Sears of Alliance Defense Fund, the Rev. Rick Scarborough of Vision America, and Colin A. Hanna of Let Freedom Ring.

President George W. Bush has also indicated he intends to veto the bill if it makes it to his desk

12.28.07

I love this. Now the abortion mills have one less reason to supply abortion on demand.

In November, Shinya Yamanaka of Kyoto University and colleagues announced they succeeded in directly reprogramming human skin cells to turn into embryonic-like stem cells. The researchers produced what are called “iPS” cells by adding four genetic factors to a human skin cell.

Now a team led by George Daley of the Children’s Hospital in Boston reports it has been able to use the same four genes to derive iPS from fetal lung and skin cells, from neo-natal skin cells as well as from skin samples taken from a healthy human volunteer. No embryos are created or destroyed, and no cloning or eggs are needed in the process of producing iPS cells.

Representative Dr. Tom Price (R-Georgia) says two years ago he took to the House floor and told members of Congress if they were patient, scientists would solve the ethical dilemma surrounding embryonic stem-cell research — and now his words have been validated.

Yesterday, I wrote about societies choosing to jail anti-Islamist dissidents and innocent Muslim civilians who are being threatened with honor murder or with other atrocities. I asked how big the jail would have to be and whether societies could actually afford to protect the innocent from the fanatically murderous. Clearly, we can not afford to sacrifice them to a political death-cult either.

Today, Benazir Bhutto’s assassination forces me to re-frame the question. When will societies finally start jailing the assassins en masse? And those who teach and fund them to blow their opponents up, to “speak” with the sword not the pen?

Today, Benazir Bhutto’s death also forces me to remind us all that the world chose not to stop suicide killers when their targets were mainly Jews and Israelis. That method has proliferated globally. A suicide killer has now assassinated a westernized Muslim woman leader—one who, wearing a headscarf, bravely returned to Pakistan with a vision of democracy.

I have no illusions about Benazir’s feminism or moral innocence. She was far from perfect—who is?—but on her head and in her blood I must say: It is time for the West to offer asylum to those innocent Pakistani civilians who wish to flee (and make sure they are who they say they are), and then fence all Pakistan in, run a wall up to the sky, include Waziristan and the tribal lands between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Just wall them in and wait for them to turn on each other; they surely will.

Muslim-on-Muslim violence is the largest untold story in the politically correct West.

If it works with Pakistan—let’s consider continuing the wall country by country. In the end, it may actually cost less to jail the assassins than to jail their innocent prey.

To Taslima Nasreen I say: If you value your life, return to Scandinavia while you have the chance.

Benazir: Rest in Peace. May your death be a turning point, may it inspire your long-suffering people and their leaders to finally say NO! to death cult suicide killers; NO! to Islamism; NO! to despotism.

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Dr. Phyllis Chesler is the well known author of classic works, including the bestseller Women and Madness (1972) and The New Anti-Semitism (2003). She has just published The Death of Feminism: What’s Next in the Struggle for Women’s Freedom (Palgrave Macmillan), as well as an updated and revised edition of Women and Madness. She is an Emerita Professor of psychology and women’s studies, the co-founder of the Association for Women in Psychology (1969) and the National Women’s Health Network (1974). She is currently on the Board of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East and lives in New York City. Her website is www.phyllis-chesler.com.
We are delighted to have Dr. Chesler as a contributor to the Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian’s Blog.

I will always use the Bible as a template when contemplating who I should vote for.

Christian author and historian David Barton says he disagrees with the premise being advanced in some conservative circles that it isn’t appropriate to use a religious test when selecting a presidential candidate.

“Article VI has nothing to do with Romney’s faith anymore than it had anything to do with Kennedy’s faith,” states the Christian historian. “It has to do only with preventing the establishment of a national church, and citizens are free to use religion or any other criteria they want in choosing whoever they want for president.”

According to Barton, Article VI is a limitation only on the federal government — not on the rights of individual citizens. “It was one of the clauses to make sure that there was no national denomination,” he explains. “So if the federal government can’t have a religious test — such as the federal government [saying] you have to all be Mormons, or Anglicans, or Baptists, or Methodists, or whatever — then there’s no chance of having a national church.”

12.27.07

In an attempt to protect high-profile Muslim and ex-Muslim dissidents who have had fatwas issued against them: Taslima Nasreen or Ayaan Hirsi Ali, for example, the “good” people have been forced to jail them, not their attackers. Today, Nasreen says she is a “virtual prisoner” in Delhi where, for her own safety, the Indian government has stashed her after a mob of fanatic Islamists tried to kill her. When Hirsi Ali was similarly threatened, the Dutch government was forced to essentially “jail” Hirsi Ali for her own good.

Where will this end? With all the “moderate” and dissident Muslims and ex-Muslims in jail? How big will this jail be? How much will it cost? Can the world’s governments afford this? How many people will have to be jailed before the West really understands that a new kind of war has been declared against us—one that we may have to fight in ways other than by jailing innocent civilians.

Hint: There are no civilians in this new kind of War.

What is the price of dissent? How much will governments be willing and able to pay to protect women from their own families who intend to honor-murder them? Or who control them in terrifying ways? Today, a Saudi women and her advocates are appealing to the Saudi King to save her from her own brothers who forced her to divorce her husband and the father of her children because the husband was deeemed tribally unworthy. The woman is now distraught and threatening suicide.

The British government has just announced a new program that will both better protect and prosecute honor killings in the West. The approach will follow an anti-Mafia model in that the British police now understand that the equivalent of a federal witness protection program, will be required for both intended victims and for witnesses who might be willing to testify on their behalf. (I have been talking about this kind of model for quite awhile and am glad to see such signs of potential progress in Britain).

Last night I saw Marjane Satrapi’s film “Persepolis” which is based upon her popular adult graphic novel aka a book-length comic strip of the same name. Although the film was a bit too long—it was nevertheless a highly creative, charming, feisty, and original presentation of the most sombre political history.

Her heroine, “Marjane,” is a child when Khomeini comes to power and she is a very young adult when she leaves Teheran first for Vienna and then for Paris. Marjane is a feminist warrior. (But so is her grandmother!) Both are portrayed as daring and sophisticated. The jailing, torture, and agonizing deaths of the regime’s political opponents, both male and female, is rendered in a soulful and heartbreaking way—as is the regime’s diabolical persecution of women.

On the other hand, the West, in which women are not punished for how they dress or because they dance or even sleep with men, is still not a welcoming place for a young Muslim immigrant entirely on her own. Indeed, the young Marjane ends up homeless on the streets of Vienna where she nearly dies. The difficulty of integrating into a Western-style life without any family protection or connections, sends Marjane back home to Teheran where at least she has family. Grim Iranian political reality ultimately returns her to the West.

When Westerners fight about Muslim immigration and about alleged “racism” towards Muslims, they are often talking about two distinct populations. Those who argue for an open door policy are thinking about Muslim and ex-Muslim immigrants in flight from Islamist persecution who deserve asylum in the West. Those who argue against open immigration are thinking about their Islamist persecutors and about those Muslim immigrants who mean to practice Islamic gender and religious Apartheid in the West.

Go see “Persepolis.” Read the book. Think long and hard about a pre-emptive strike against a civilian population that has already been so persecuted by its leaders. But, think even harder about whether we want such leaders and those who share their ideology to impose their evil will upon the West and upon Judaeo-Christian culture.

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Dr. Phyllis Chesler is the well known author of classic works, including the bestseller Women and Madness (1972) and The New Anti-Semitism (2003). She has just published The Death of Feminism: What’s Next in the Struggle for Women’s Freedom (Palgrave Macmillan), as well as an updated and revised edition of Women and Madness. She is an Emerita Professor of psychology and women’s studies, the co-founder of the Association for Women in Psychology (1969) and the National Women’s Health Network (1974). She is currently on the Board of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East and lives in New York City. Her website is www.phyllis-chesler.com.
We are delighted to have Dr. Chesler as a contributor to the Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian’s Blog.

In order to know where we are headed in Bible prophecy, it’s important to keep track of where world events are headed. With this being the last full week of 2007, I decided to put together a reflective review of the top 10 prophetic events of this year.

I’ve been watching prophecy unfold for nearly 25 years, and have noticed that we often have build-up years followed by birth-pang years. This cycle fits the pattern that Jesus warned about in Matthew 24:3-8. With 2007 being one of the best build-up years I’ve ever seen, I think 2008 has a strong likelihood of being an eventful birth-pang year. With that being the case, I say we should watch these following events closely in the coming year.

1. Putin , Russia ‘s Strongman – Russian President Vladimir Putin was selected as Time’s Magazines’ “Person of the Year.” When I first heard the announcement on the news, I thought the magazines had made a selection that was akin to its previous choice of having Mikhail Gorbachev as their man for 1987 and 1989. After reading the article, the real reason was closer to why Time gave the nod to Adolf Hitler in 1938.

The reporters that went to Moscow to interview Putin found a man strangely unmoved by such a prestigious honor. “Whether he proves to be a reformer or an autocrat who takes Russia back to an era of repression—this we will know only over the next decade,” said Time.

History warns that a consolidation of power under one individual normally ends badly. Putin has almost total control of Russia . Anyone familiar with prophecy would be a fool not to notice the striking similarities between him and the Gog prophecies in Ezekiel 38 and 39. I think in 2008, the West is going to realize a new Cold War foe is brewing in the East.

2. Iran ‘s Nuclear Program – Worried that the ultimate goal is a nuclear arsenal, the United States and other countries have pressed Iran to halt uranium enrichment. A U.S. intelligence report has concluded there is no immediate danger. Israel does not share this view. It can’t wait until a mushroom cloud appears over Tel Aviv to say, “See, I told you so.”

At some point, Israel is going decide that it cannot allow Iran to get any closer to developing nuclear weapons. When that day comes, the whole dynamics of the Middle East will be instantly changed.

3. Syria , Israel ‘s Doomed Neighbor – Two key factors make Syria important to Bible prophecy. The first is that Syria is a heavily armed and a natural foe of Israel. The second reason has to do with the prophecy in Isaiah 17:1 that calls for the destruction of the city of Damascus.

We came very close to seeing a war break out between Israel and Syria. The Israeli political and military leadership took a huge gamble when they bombed a nuclear facility southwest of Damascus. As an indication of simmering desire for revenge, Syrian said this past week that it might attack Israel ‘s nuclear reactor.

4. Peace Talks – In November, there was a big meeting in the city of Annapolis. A record number of Middle East nations gathered together to talk about how the Arab nations can co-exist with the state of Israel.

The Bible warns that in the last days, Jerusalem will become a source of global contention. It will be a catalyst that will draw the world into a series of epic battles.

“And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it” (Zech. 12:3).

5. Oil Prices- This year is the first since the 1970s that has seen such a rapid increase in the price of petroleum. Oil traders pushed the price to record highs, at one point reaching nearly $100 a barrel.

The tight supplies for black gold makes the Middle East a very geopolitically sensitive area. Any event that disrupts the flow of oil from the Persian Gulf is guaranteed to get the world’s attention.

6. Dollar’s Collapse – One of the best measures of a nation’s strength is how well its currency trades in international markets. Over the past few years, the dollar has steadily declined in value. This year has been particularly bad for the dollar. The decline of the greenback fits well with Bible prophecy. The lack of focus on the U.S. in Bible prophecy would seem to indicate that our nation will become a secondary player in the end times.

There are already indications that America is no longer the superpower it once was. According to a headline in the Independent News, ” London has topped the most exhaustive comparison ever compiled of the world’s great cities in a finding that sees Britain ‘s capital outstrip global rivals as a centre of economic performance and cultural significance.” The world’s biggest airport, tallest building, and most active stock market are no longer located in the U.S.

7. Moral Meltdown – The decline in morality is one of the most consistent trends of any end-time indicator. Because the downturn is so gradual and broad based, it’s hard for the average person to notice the change.

In any given year, some examples stand out from others. For 2007, the high jinx of key pop media celebrities stand out in my mind as a prime example of a moral meltdown. I could pick for a long list of names, but because Britney Spears and her younger sister, Jamie Lynn, have the most-searched surname of the past two years, I’ll use them as an example.

Britney started the year in a drug rehabilitation facility, then temporarily lost custody of her two sons. Her 16-year-old sister, Jamie Lynn Spears, turned up pregnant by boyfriend Casey Aldridge, 19, who should be facing up to 10 years for statutory rape.

The moral meltdown is how the Spears sisters have continued as if nothing is wrong. Instead of being ashamed of their actions, both of them have turned to the media to trivialize their sin.

8. The EU Gets Its Act Together – One of the most under-reported story of 2007 would have to be the amazing progress the European Union has made in resolving disputes that have happened within this organization. Just a few years ago, there was talk of the EU disintegrating into nothingness. In 2004, no one knew how to move forward after France and the Netherlands rejected the EU constitution in separate referendums.

The EU is now pressing ahead with fresh leaders in France and Germany and a new game plan that doesn’t require referendum votes. Just this past week, the EU’s borderless zone expanded to nine mostly eastern European countries in its biggest enlargement so far.

The EU is important to prophecy because this is where the Antichrist will come to power.

9. Violent Crime – A new record for mass murder in America was set at Virginia Tech by Seung-Hui Cho, 23, who had avoided court-ordered mental health treatment despite a history of psychiatric problems. He killed two fellow students in a dormitory on April 16, detoured to mail a hate-filled video of himself to NBC News, then shot dead 30 students and professors in a classroom building before killing himself.

As I just reported a just couple weeks ago, just 2 miles from my house, Robert Hawkins opened fire on the third floor of the upscale Von Maur specialty department store in the Westroads Mall, killing eight and wounding five others before committing suicide.

10. China is the King of the East – With an economy booming at double digits, China has muscled itself onto the list of major world powers. As China continues to grow, it will eventually come into conflict with other major industrial powers. The desire to control the oil wealth of the Middle East could be the reason China musters an army of 200 million solders.

A new Senate report on global warming shattered the myth of ‘scientific consensus’ about anthropogenic (man-made) climate change, after hearing from more than 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries.

“Anthropogenic (man-made) global warming bites the dust,” declared astronomer Dr. Ian Wilson after reviewing the new study which has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Geophysical Research.

Another scientist said the peer-reviewed study overturned “in one fell swoop” the climate fears promoted by the UN and former Vice President Al Gore.

The study entitled “Heat Capacity, Time Constant, and Sensitivity of Earth’s Climate System,” was authored by Brookhaven National Lab scientist Stephen Schwartz.

Not too long ago, the chairman of the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Dr. Rahendar Pachuari, joked that there were perhaps ‘ a dozen’ skeptical scientists left in the world on the subject of climate change.

Al Gore claims a ‘universal scientific consensus’ exists that blames human activity for what he says will be catastrophic climate changes over the next fifty years.

Like Pachuari, Gore has publicly equated the global warming skeptics among the scientific community with members ‘of the Flat Earth Society.’

Gore also compared global warming skeptics to people who ‘believe the moon landing was actually staged in a movie lot in Arizona’.

A new minority Senate report on global warming shattered the myth of ‘scientific consensus’ about anthropogenic (man-made) climate change, after hearing from more than 400 prominent scientists from more than two dozen countries.

The new report issued by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s office of the GOP Ranking Member details the views of the scientists, views that stand in stark contrast to those of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Indeed, many of the same scientists who contributed to the Senate report were themselves either current or former members of the UN’s IPCC ‘consensus’ opinion.

The Senate report lists the scientists by name, country of residence, and academic/institutional affiliation. It also features their own words, biographies, and weblinks to their peer reviewed studies and original source materials as gathered from public statements, various news outlets, and websites in 2007.

Many of the scientists featured in the report testified that many of their colleagues shared their views, but they will not speak out publicly for fear of retribution.

This is a long list, but I am going to include it because of its sheer size. The dissenting scientists listed are far from members of the “Flat Earth Society”. Instead, they are members of:

Harvard University; NASA; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR); Massachusetts Institute of Technology; the UN IPCC; the Danish National Space Center; U.S. Department of Energy; Princeton University; the Environmental Protection Agency; University of Pennsylvania; Hebrew University of Jerusalem; the International Arctic Research Centre; the Pasteur Institute in Paris; the Belgian Weather Institute; Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute; the University of Helsinki; the National Academy of Sciences of the U.S., France, and Russia; the University of Pretoria; University of Notre Dame; Stockholm University; University of Melbourne; University of Columbia; the World Federation of Scientists; and the University of London.

Told you it was a long list!

The most comprehensive definition I could find for “consensus” is this:

“General agreement, characterized by the absence of sustained opposition to substantial issues by any important part of the concerned interests and by a process that involves seeking to take into account the views of all parties concerned and to reconcile any conflicting arguments.”

The Senate report flatly contradicts the solemn pronouncements of the mainstream media, as well, which probably explains why it isn’t exactly a “Breaking News” headline.

One would think that the opposition of so many scientists, especially given the prestige of the institutions they represent, might cause somebody to rush for a dictionary to look up the word ‘consensus’ but no such luck.

The media has been been universal in its, (forgive me) consensus opinion about scientific consensus on global warming.

“There are only a “handful of skeptics” to man-made global warming fears.” (Washington Post, May 23, 2007)

“After extensive searches, ABC News has found no such [scientific] debate” on global warming. (ABC’s Bill Blakemore, August 30, 2006)

‘Science’ is supposed to be, well, scientific, which therefore suggests there is empirical evidence of sufficient weight to form a scientific ‘consensus’ — which would also then mean the end of the debate.

But 17,000 top scientists signed a letter expressing the contrary view last year. Four hundred scientists expressed their opposition before the UN Senate.

The debate continues to rage among scientists, even as Al Gore, the UNIPPC, the mainstream media and the Nobel Peace Prize Selection Committee assure us that the science is ‘settled.’

All through the 1990’s new climate models and new projections, each more terrifying than the one before, resulted in an avalanche of grant money.

Governments used their findings as fuel to run various pet energy projects, justify spending, (or the lack thereof) and provide governments with a ‘boogey-man’ to scare their constituencies with.

This isn’t conspiracy theory — it’s conspiracy fact. The scientists getting all the grant money are in ‘consensus’ — those outside the gravy train say its all baloney.

But . . . they are all looking at the same statistics!
Somebody is conspiring with somebody, here.

But for there to be a conspiracy, there must also be a motive. What is the motive for advancing the theory of man-made global warming?

Let’s connect the dots. The UN is dependent on member governments, (particularly the US) for its operations budget. That makes the UN, at least marginally, accountable to those governments.
If Congress, for example, were to cut off UN funding, it would lose both its headquarters and a quarter of its budget.

The ability to impose taxes on difficult governments, (such as the USA) turns that equation on its head, making the member governments accountable to the UN — in essence, handing the United Nations absolute sovereign power.

Absolute global power is a pretty convincing motive.
And as you go down the line, the motive, power, remains pretty static. Global warming turned Al Gore from a failed national politician into a global political superstar.

Global warming turned Dr. Heidi Cullen from a weathergirl on the Weather Channel into a global scientific authority with such prestige that her call to revoke the credentials of any meteorologist who didn’t agree with her made headlines worldwide.

Global warming is the UN’s Declaration of Independence — if it can manage to pull off the greatest fascist power-grab in the history of the world.

Global warming has become the politician’s refuge of last resort, a sort of whipping boy that can be trotted out and blamed for anything from raising taxes to exonerating genocide.

(Witness Ban Ki Moon’s pathetic attempt to divert the blame for the genocide in Darfur away from the Islamic government in Khartoum — which might inflame the Islamic world mid-massacre — and the UN’s inaction, by claiming the conflict is the result of global warming.)

The myth of global warming runs the gamut of Biblical signs for the last days.

Christians in India are under attack again. Pray for their safety.
Many people don’t realize this, but it is against the law for missionaries to “convert” people to religions other than Hinduism. Well, to make it look like they are not wholly against the process, the law reads that all a person has to do before they convert is let the police know they are about to do it. The law also states that the police can deny them the right to convert.
In Christianity, we believe that all people are created equal. In Hinduism, there are classes of people. There is a class of people who are actually called “untouchables”. They are lowest of society and once born an untouchable, one is always an untouchable, with no way to ever achieve anything more.
With this in mind, one can see how Christianity would be preferred to Hinduism, especially for the lower classes. All people, being equal under Christianity, or always an untouchable under Hinduism.
I have always been suspect of countries, like India, and the Muslim ones, who pass laws against the presentation of other religions. What are they afraid of? Could it be that their religion cannot stand on it’s own merits? I believe this is the truth of the matter.

A curfew has been imposed in parts of the eastern Indian state of Orissa after Hindu hardliners attacked up to a dozen Christian churches, police say.

One person was killed and more than 25 injured in the violence in the Kandhamal area on Tuesday, police said.

Christians said it was sparked by Hindus objecting to a performance they were staging to celebrate Christmas.

But a Hindu group said it began when Christians tried to attack a local Hindu leader on Monday, Christmas Eve.

It said a group of people surrounded the vehicle carrying Swami Laxamananda Saraswati as he was on his way to the area. He was taken to hospital but was not seriously hurt.

Now ‘under control’

However it started, the violence appeared to culminate in the attacks on churches on Christmas Day.

Christians were chased out of several churches – in many case just mud huts with thatched roofs – before they were set alight, officials said.

One person was reported killed in the violence, but it was unclear whether that was a Hindu or a Christian.

Hundreds of police were deployed following the violence, which had largely died down by Wednesday, a local government official said.

“The situation is tense but under control,” said BB Mishra, a state inspector-general of police.

Orissa, which is mainly Hindu and has a tiny Christian minority, has seen violence between the two communities in the past.

The state has a law obliging people to ask for police permission before changing religion – thought to be a measure aimed at Christian missionaries.

Hindus have accused Christian groups of forcing low-caste people to convert.

Christians say they often convert willingly because of their treatment as outcasts.

I was just getting ready to blog about an attack on former Pakistani Prime Minister Bhutto when this just came on the email from CNN:
“Ex-Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto has died, according to media reports.”

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan — Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was undergoing surgery Thursday after she was wounded in a homicide attack that killed at least 20 other people, a party aide said.

Sen. Safdar Abbasi said Bhutto was hit in the bomb blast and was in serious condition.

“BB is serious and she is in the operating theater,” Abbasi said. Other top party leaders were at the Rawalpindi General Hospital, crying.

The bomber attacked the former prime minister’s supporters as they were leaving a rally.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene saw body parts and flesh scattered at the back gate of the Liaqat Bagh park in Rawalpindi, where the rally was held.

He counted about 20 bodies, including police, and could see many other wounded.

Update at 08:25 on 12/27/07:
Supporters of Bhutto seem to believe that the current president of Pakistan, Pervez Musharraf, is to blame.
I remember thinking to myself the day Bhutto first arrived back in Pakistan, that she was a “dead woman walking”. Between the aspirations of would be dictator Musharraf, and his minions of brain-washed Islamic lackey’s, she really didn’t stand a chance.
It will interesting to see what happens next.

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan — Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated Thursday, shot in the neck and chest before a homicide bomber blew himself up at a campaign rally. Twenty others also died.

The assassin struck just minutes after Bhutto addressed a rally of thousands of supporters in the garrison city of Rawalpindi. She was shot as she was entering her car. Her attacker then set off his bomb.

Bhutto was rushed to the hospital and taken into emergency surgery.

“At 6:16 p.m. she expired,” said Wasif Ali Khan, a member of Bhutto’s party who was at Rawalpindi General Hospital.

The 54-year-old former prime minister’s supporters exploded in anger, smashing the glass door at the main entrance of the hospital’s emergency unit. Others burst into tears. One man with a flag of Pakistan People’s Party tied around his head was beating his chest.

Some at the hospital began chanting, “Killer, Killer, Musharraf,” referring to President Pervez Musharraf, Bhutto’s main political opponent. A few began stoning cars outside.

“We repeatedly informed the government to provide her proper security and appropriate equipment including jammers, but they paid no heed to our requests,” said Rehman Malik, Bhutto’s security adviser.

Nawaz Sharif, another former premier and opposition leader, arrived at the hospital and sat silently next to Bhutto’s body.

12.26.07

If there way any doubt that Iran and Russia are allies, recent events should alleviate that doubt. Russia and Iran play heavily in end times events.

TEHRAN, Iran — Russia is selling Iran a new and sophisticated air defense system that experts say is capable of dealing a serious blow against would-be attackers.

The new S-300 air defense system signals growing miitary cooperation between Moscow and Tehran, Iranian Defense Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar said Wednesday.

“The S-300 air defense system will be delivered to Iran on the basis of a contract signed with Russia in the past,” state television quoted Najjar as saying.

Najjar didn’t say when or how many of the S-300 anti-aircraft missile defense systems would be shipped to Iran.

Earlier this year, Russia delivered 29 Tor-M1 air defense missile systems to Iran under a $700 million contract signed in December 2005.

Russian officials wouldn’t comment on the Iranian statement, but the Interfax news agency quoted an unidentified source in the Russian military-industrial complex as saying that a contract for the missiles delivery had been signed several years ago and envisaged the delivery of several dozen S-300 missile systems.

The S-300 is much more powerful and versatile weapon than the Tor-M1 missile systems supplied earlier, which were capable of hitting airborne targets flying at up to 20,000 feet.

The S-300 is capable of shooting down aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missile warheads at ranges of up to 95 miles and at altitudes of up to 90,000 feet. Russian military officials boast that it excels the U.S.-built Patriot missiles currently being deployed in Israel.

Rumors about the sale of S-300 missile systems to Iran have circulated for a long time, but Russian officials consistently denied it.

I fear we are not very far behind here in the U.S. All too soon, we Christians, who hold to a Biblical view, will be under attack in much the same manner.

Biblical standards are under attack by the “bastardized courts” of Canada, where activists who claim they have “hurt feelings” are demanding – and getting – penalties imposed against those who oppose the homosexual lifestyle, according to a family organization.

The description of the courts, also known as the provincial and national Human Rights Commissions, comes from the Canada Family Action Coalition, which has addressed the problem in an alert to its constituents, and warns the United States is not that far from having similar assaults on traditional family values.

“It has become apparent in the past month how badly the acts are written and how they are being misused to violate the rights of Canadians,” the organization said.

“We today have a major national magazine, a federal political party leader and a registered political party, a major Catholic newspaper (Catholic Insight) and an internationally renowned journalist all of whom are being investigated by appointed ‘hate speech therapists’ from the commissions,” the group said.

The journalist is Mark Steyn, according to CFAC spokesman Brian Rushfeldt, and the newest case involves Canada’s national Catholic magazine of news, opinion and analysis.

The publication has been told it is being targeted by a complaint from Edmonton resident Rob Wells, who alleges the publication has offended homosexuals.

The magazine’s editor, Father Alphonse de Valk, dismissed the complaint as unfounded, and said his publication follows the teaching of the Catholic Church on homosexuality.

In a typically democratic form of government, basic rights such as freedom of speech, opinion and the press would answer for such concerns, but in Canada, under the jurisdiction of the Human Rights Commissions, the result is anyone’s guess, Rushfeldt told WND.

The first problem is that the laws setting up the commissions note that if something “indicates discrimination” and “is likely to expose to hatred or contempt” there is a basis for action. But that leaves the determination on what “indicates discrimination” or “is likely to expose to hatred” up to the officials appointed to the commission panels, he said.

The laws also often are interpreted by those who have no training in the law, and the commissions are not bound by the rules of law when they make their decisions, he added.

Catholic Insight reported that Wells’ attack on the publication is not his first. In 2006 he tried to close down several websites including concernedchristians.ca because of their Christian content, and he targeted Ron Gray and the Christian Heritage party because the political entity posted articles “motivated by hate” of homosexuals.

Bishop Fred Henry of Calgary, the Knights of Columbus in Vancouver, Maclean’s magazine and its editor and Steyn also have been targeted, mostly for their writings regarding homosexuality, or the influence of Islam.

Alan Borovoy, general counsel for the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, told the magazine he never imagined human rights commissions would ultimately be used against freedom of speech, because they were launched in an effort to eliminate discrimination in pay and housing.

But after “sexual orientation” was added as a protected class, the tribunals have been exploited in pursuit of a ban on anything or anyone with less than a full endorsement of the homosexual lifestyle choice.

“The majority of the complaints have been related to homosexuals claiming that they’ve been offended, that hate is being propagated against them. The majority being targeted are religious sectors of society,” Rushfeldt said.

Tony Blair’s conversion to Catholicism does not come as a surprise to anyone but I would have liked him to turn to Islam instead. Blair has claimed on many occasions that he has read the Quran and has said he found its teachings “progressive”. He is right that the Quran is progressive and as a revealed book of God, it is the latest testament. Why would Blair turn to the older versions of God’s testament when there is the Quran? His conversion sounds rather regressive to me.

Different denominational churches within Christianity are part of the same house. If the Church of England was not providing our former prime minister with spiritual fulfilment changing to another denomination within the same house surely will not make substantial difference. If he is looking for reform and spirituality, he should come to Islam. Blair has said the Quran strikes him as a reforming book “trying to return Judaism and Christianity to their origins, much as reformers attempted to do with the Christian church centuries later”. If he so admires the Quran for its reformist outlook, why turn to Christianity and particularly Catholic Church, which has been plagued with centuries of baggage?

In an article published by Foreign Affairs early this year, Blair spoke of the Quran as being inclusive. His new Church has been the most exclusive and in the name of its own version of Christianity has murdered and destroyed the lives and properties of many fellow Christians over the years. In his role as a Middle East envoy he would have won the hearts and minds of the Muslim world if he had come to Islam. He might have found redemption for his crimes against Iraq and its innocent people. His conversion to Catholicism would no doubt remind the Muslim world, especially the Arab world of the history of the Crusades. The blood of millions of people still stain the cobblestones of the Holy Land from the cold-blooded murders committed in the name of Christianity and was blessed by the then Papacy in Rome.

I think this point that Charles Johnson makes is valid:
“Imagine, if you will, the reaction from Muslims if a Christian priest or minister said similar things about Islam. Actually, you don’t have to imagine; just recall any of the riots or murders that followed Pope Benedict’s indirect quotation of a relatively mild criticism of Islam by a Byzantine emperor.”

Hebrew University has just awarded a research prize to a graduate student’s essay in which she claims that Israeli soldiers are “racists for not raping Arab women.”(See http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/124674 )

This is no joke—anyway, who could make this up? The graduate student is a woman named Tal Nitzan. Her anthropological essay has been published by the Hebrew University’s “Shaine Center.”

Nitzan writes that the “lack of IDF rapes of Palestinian women is designed to serve a political purpose.” Since Israel fears the Palestinians demographically, IDF soldiers have been trained not to rape the women in order to avoid creating new Palestinians and little intifaders. (Has Nitzan never heard about Palestinian honor killings in which pregnant-out-of-wedlock or adulterous women are murdered by their families who love them too much?) Nitzan alleges that the “lack of military rape merely strengthens the ethnic boundaries and clarifies the inter-ethnic differences—just as organized military rape would have done.”

Thus, Israeli racism, which “de-humanizes” Palestinian women, suppresses Jewish male lust—which proves that Israeli soldiers are racist oppressors. As the only army that does not, apparently, rape, Nitzan fails to grapple with other reasons for this, including the possibility that Israeli soldiers are acting in an ethical and civilized manner.

According to Israeli Professor Steven Plaut who called this to my attention: ” So essentially Nitzan is saying that the proof that Israeli soldiers are brutal oppressive stormtroopers is the fact that they do NOT mistreat and sexually abuse Palestinian women, not even the Palestinian terrorist women apprehended after trying to murder Jews.”

Plaut bitterly wonders whether if Nitzan “herself were to be raped by Hamas terrorists, I guess this would pretty much prove that they are egalitarian and progressive seekers of peace and justice.”

He suggests that people let the heads of Hebrew University know what they think about awarding a prize to such an essay. He provides the following contact information.

Dr. Phyllis Chesler is the well known author of classic works, including the bestseller Women and Madness (1972) and The New Anti-Semitism (2003). She has just published The Death of Feminism: What’s Next in the Struggle for Women’s Freedom (Palgrave Macmillan), as well as an updated and revised edition of Women and Madness. She is an Emerita Professor of psychology and women’s studies, the co-founder of the Association for Women in Psychology (1969) and the National Women’s Health Network (1974). She is currently on the Board of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East and lives in New York City. Her website is www.phyllis-chesler.com.
We are delighted to have Dr. Chesler as a contributor to the Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian’s Blog.

“The Saudis are Coming, the Saudis are Coming”—and this time they mean to tax and silence us via lawsuit not via military action. Paul Revere’s pre-Revolutionary alarm about “The British are Coming” might still apply since British Law is now actively aiding and abetting the Saudi Crusade against Freedom of Speech in the West.

Where are all the First Ammendment fanatics when we need them? Actually—they are all here. (See below for the incredible line-up of organizations that submitted an Amicus Curiae brief).

First, for our hero. Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld wrote a book “Funding Evil. How Terrorism Is Financed—and How to Stop It.” One of the funders whom she named is Khalid Salim Bin Mahfouz—who sued Ehrenfeld in London because, although Ehrenfeld does not live, work, or publish in England, 23 people based in the UK bought her book on the Internet.

This means that if anyone writes a book in America or in Europe which tells the truth about Islamic terrorism, that both author and publisher can be sued in London for “libel” where libel laws favor the accuser. However, if an author is not a multi-millionnaire and cannot afford to defend herself or to risk being ordered to pay for both her own and for the plaintiff’s barrister—she is royally screwed. She might as well give up telling the truth about Islam and publishers might restrict their titles to gardening and the occult. (See a short film about Ehrenfeld’s struggle with Libel Tourism produced by Rob Pfaltzgraff. HERE: http://www.thelibeltourist.com/cgi-local/content.cgi )

The brave and determined Ehrenfeld, whom no philanthropist, corporation, government entity or defense fund supported, chose not to defend herself in London. It was too expensive, and also too dangerous, given how often the London courts find for plaintiffs in such matters. Thus, Bin Mahfouz won in London but only by default; however, the interest continues to accrue. Ehrenfeld instead sued for a declaratory judgement in New York State. She and her lawyer, Daniel J. Kornstein, wanted the Court to determine that the London-based default judgement against her is un-enforceable in New York—just in case Mahfouz decided to come after her here to enforce the London judgement.

Every major publisher and bookseller, including Amazon. Com, signed onto Ehrenfeld’s lawsuit in an Amicus Brief. The signatories include Advance Publications, The American Society of Newspaper Editors, The Association of American Publishers, The Author’s Guild, The European Publisher’s Council, Forbes, Gannett Co., The Newspaper Association of America, The Online News Association, The Radio-Television News Directors Association, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, The World Press Freedom Committee.

On December 20, 2007,Judge Carmen Ciparik, writing for a unanimous Court, determined that “there is no personal jurisdiction yet over Mahfouz in New York State.”The court’s decision may be read HERE http://www.nycourts.gov/reporter/3dseries/2007/2007_09961.htm Lawyers assure me that the ruling is along technical, jurisdictional grounds and responds narrowly to the question put to it by the Second Circuit of whether New York State has jurisdiction over Mahfouz.

We do not know how the New York Courts would rule if Mahfouz actually came here and tried to enforce his London judgement. Also, the Federal Appeals Court, Second Circuit, did not ask the New York State Court of Appeals to “opine upon the propriety of English libel law or its differences from United States and particularly New York State counterparts.” Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld said: “This is a sad day for all Americans. Failing to protect my rights for freedom of speech under the Constitution’s First Ammendment laws, the New York Court of Appeals opened the door to those wishing to curtail the U.S. press and media willingness and ability to freely investigate and report on matters important to our survival as a free nation.”

Dr. Ehrenfeld’s lawyer, Daniel Kornstein of Manhattan, said: “The chill continues. That’s the danger and the risk and the problem that we tried to stress. It creates a sword of Damocles that inhibits authors and publishers, and readers can’t read about it.”

Ehrenfeld, (Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer, the David Project) yesterday, Mark Steyn today; which author will be sued tommorrow?

Paradoxically, the same internet which allows for more freedom of speech is now also responsible for chilling that very speech. We have got to put our money where our principles are. The West will have to start funding authors like Ehrenfeld just as if she were a prize fighter or football player—or a national resource. Until or unless this happens, ever fewer authors and publishers will be willing to take the enormous risk of speaking truth to power.

Dr. Ehrenfeld may be contacted at www.acdemocracy.org , through Audrey Mullen at audrey@advocayink.com Tel: 703-548-1160, or through her website: ehrenfeld@acdemocracy.org.

———————————————-

Dr. Phyllis Chesler is the well known author of classic works, including the bestseller Women and Madness (1972) and The New Anti-Semitism (2003). She has just published The Death of Feminism: What’s Next in the Struggle for Women’s Freedom (Palgrave Macmillan), as well as an updated and revised edition of Women and Madness. She is an Emerita Professor of psychology and women’s studies, the co-founder of the Association for Women in Psychology (1969) and the National Women’s Health Network (1974). She is currently on the Board of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East and lives in New York City. Her website is www.phyllis-chesler.com.
We are delighted to have Dr. Chesler as a contributor to the Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian’s Blog.

12.25.07

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,
Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.Luke 2:7-14 (King James Version)

Merry Christmas to all of from the Jesus is Lord, A Worshipping Christian’s Blog!
-Steve, Missi & Beth

12.24.07

The so called “partners in peace” of Israel, otherwise known as Fatah is up to their old tricks again. Showing maps that should have the two countries living side by side, instead showing only Palestine and no Israel.

Fatah is planning to mark its 43rd anniversary this year with a new poster that presents all of Israel as Palestine.

Designed specifically for the occasion by Abdel Mun’em Ibrahim, the poster features a map of Israel that is entirely draped with a Palestinian keffiyeh scarf.

It also carries a drawing of a rifle as a symbol of the “armed struggle” against Israel.

The poster, which has been endorsed by the Fatah leadership, has already been posted on a number of Fatah-affiliated Web sites.

The underlying message of the poster is that Fatah, like Hamas, does not recognize Israel’s existence.

The emblem is in violation of Fatah’s declared policy, which envisions an independent Palestinian state alongside, and not instead of, Israel.

By including a rifle in the poster, Fatah is sending a message to the Palestinian public that it has not abandoned the option of “armed resistance,” despite current peace talks with Israel.

12.22.07

The comic absurdity of the hysteria surrounding Gov. Mike Huckabee’s supposed “floating cross” TV commercial this week reminded me of a scene in one of my favorite movies of all time, “Absence of Malice.” The movie is great because it delves into the complicated world of newspaper ethics and features some great performances by Paul Newman and Sally Field.

In the film’s climactic scene, the terrific character actor Wilford Brimley, playing an authority figure who is trying to sort out a complicated situation created by the Paul Newman character, turns to the shrewd Newman who has exacted revenge upon an ethics-challenged newspaper and asks, “Are you really that smart, sir? Did you really pull this off and fool everyone in this room?”

That’s what I keep wondering about Mike Huckabee. If he managed to pick up a boatload of votes because he proved beyond a reasonable doubt how hateful and antagonistic the mainstream media is towards Christians, all while gently reminding the world how deep his faith runs, he would be way beyond just smart.